NextDC raises AU$50m for growth

Investors dig datacentres

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The cloud business is continuing drive investment in Australia, with nascent data centre operator NextDC raising Au$50m to ramp up its planned expansion plans here and in New Zealand.

Following the capital raising, the ASX listed company said it had over $AU150 million equity and approximately $AU95 million cash in the bank.

NextDC, which listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in a $AU40 million IPO, has outlined ambitious plans to construct data centres across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Canberra and Auckland in a bid to "become the most recognised, connected and trusted data centre brand in Australia and New Zealand".

NextDC CEO, Bevan Slattery, said: "With its strong balance sheet, already secured ideal data centre sites, access to significant power and fibre optic infrastructures, and most importantly, an experienced team of people, NextDC is on track to enable the cloud revolution by delivering a national network of independent data centres in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and Perth."

The proceeds of the capital-raising will be split across the company's planned data centre deployment including the build and fit-out of the Melbourne (M1) data centre at $AU32m; the fit-out, security deposit and associated costs for the Canberra (C1) facility at $AU15 million; and $AU3 million for offer costs and additional working capital.

In April, NextDC secured a site for its Sydney hub, with plans to open the centre in Q3 2012. ®